Machine for feeding articles.



A M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. I913.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

5? 7 5:5 I 711) emf/o 7:5;

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (20., WASHINGTON, D, c.

A. M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26,1913.

Patented JalLll, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

c'oLuMmA PLANOGRAPH CDvflVASHlNGTON. D. c.

A. M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTlCLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1913.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

EETSSHEET 4.

IIIIHIIIlIlIlIfiIlIIIIIIIIIIIl/Ifl IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! 'IIII/[lcuLuMmA PLANUGRMH 00.. WASHINGTON. I). c.

A. M. HOYT & C. A. MAISON. MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, I9I3- E I S k COLUMBIA PLANOGRAI'H ccWASHINGTON, u. c.

pmrun srars rerun-r rrrcn.

ALBERT M. I-IOY'I, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, AND CARL A. MATSON, OF LYNN,MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

illli llifw.

Application filed July 26, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ALBERT M. Home and CARLA. MA'rsoN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, atSwampscott and Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts,have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for FeedingArticles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for feeding articles from a columnof the same one by one to a receptacle for said articles. The machine isparticularly adapted to feed articles of sheet material, such ascounters for boots and shoes, from a column of such counters to thetable of a buffing or skiving machine.

The object of the invention is to take the articles one by one from thetop of a column of such articles and carry them to the table orreceptacle placing them on said table in readiness to be operated uponby the machine in the bufhng or in the skiving operation.

In feeding articles of thin sheet material, such as the counters ofboots and shoes, from a column of such articles, ithas been customary tofeed them from the bottom of the column by pushing them sidewisethereof, and as the counters vary in thickno it sometimes happens thattwo counters are fed forward instead of one. In our improved mechanismthe feed member consists of a foot provided with ports in its under faceand this foot pressed by suitable mechanism agains the upper face of theuppermost article in the column of articles. Suitable passages are 1 rvided in the mechanism which operates said foot to exhaust the air fromsaid ports and the uppermost article is thus sucked against the underface of the foot and said mechanism is then perated to lift said articlefrom the top of the column of articles and carry the same, withoutreversing it, over to a suitable table or receptacle therefor, whereupona valve is operated to allow air to enter said passages and ports, thusbreaking the vacuum and allowing the article to remain on the tablewhile the foot is carried back by said mechanism to pick up anotherarticle from said column of articles.

In addition to the mechanism for removing the articles from the columnof articles, ashereinbefore described, and placing said articles one byone upon asuitable recepta- Spccification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. if, 191%.

Serial No. 781,388.

cle, the object of the invention is to provide a. mechanism for movingthe entire column of articles upwardly in a suitable hopper,intermittently, about the thickness of one of said articles at eachstep, so that the up per surface of the uppermost article in the columnof articles shall always be at substantially the same location when thefoot for removing said articles is brought into position by themechanism hereinbefore referred to, to remove one of said articles.

It is evident that in a large number of articles, such as counters,there will be a variation in thickness and, therefore, the mechanism formoving the column of articles upwardly, hereinbefore referred to, mustembody means to overcome this variation in the total thickness of thearticles in the column. The means whereby this is accomplishedconstitutes a part of this invention and embodies mechanism which, stepby step, feeds the articles upwardly in a column in a suitable hopperand when the upper face of the uppermost article in the column risesabove a certain fixed line, or, in other words, when said upper face isfed to a higher point than is desirable, the

mechanism for moving the articles is so constructed that by means of atripper actuated bv the mechanism which removes the articles from thecolumn, said feeding mechanism will cease to operate during one feedandwill automaticallv adjust itself to move said column of articles inthe next feed, said regulation of the feed mechanism of the column ofarticles being automatically arranged for and governed bv the positionof the article at the end of' said column from which said articles areremoved.

The invention further contemplates a hopper particularly adapted forguiding and feeding articles of sheet material, particu larly sucharticles the counters of boots and shoes.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts setforth in the following specification and particularly po nted out in theclaims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of our improvedmachine for feeding articles. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the mechanism for removing thearticles from a column of articles, and placing them one by one on areceptacle therefor, some 0f the parts being shown in section, saidmechanism being shown in full lines in the position occupied therebywhen a counter is being delivered to the receptacle and in dot ted linesin a position midway between the position where it removes the counterfrom the column of counters and that position where it delivers it tothe table. Fig. 4- is a detail plan view of a portion of the machine,the frame being broken away and a counter being shown in a hopper indotted lines. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 66 of Fig. 1illustrating the table upon which the counters rest and the rack andpawl mechanism whereby Said table is moved upwardly. Fig. 7 is a secticnal plan broken away to save space in the drawings and taken on line7-7 of Fig. 1, illustrating a portion of the mechanism for feeding thecounters from the column of counters to the table and also illustratingthe means whereby a suction is obtained to hold the counters to the feedfoot as they are beingfed. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional elevation takenon line 8-8 of Fig. 2, the same being partly broken away and shown inelevation and illustrating the feed foot. Fig. 9 is a detail sectionalelevation taken on line 99 of Fig. 4 illustrating the inlet and exhaustvalve. Fig. 10 is a detail section taken on line 1010 of Fig. 1. Fig. 11is a side elevation illustrating a portion of the mechanism for feedingthe column of counters and the tripper whereby said mechanism is heldout of operation at intervals, some of the parts being shown in section.Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of the tripper and columnfeeding mechanism as viewed from the rear of Fig. 11. Figs. 13, 14: and15 are views similar to Fig. 11 showing the parts in the series ofdifferent positions assumed thereby. Fig. 16 is a sectional elevationsimilar to Fig. 8 of a modified form of carrier. Fig. 17 is a sectionalplan taken on line 1717 of Fig. 16.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

The mechanism hereinbefore described is adapted to be attached to amachine for skiving or bufling shoe counters and will be described withthe end in view of feeding shoe counters to such machine, although themechanism is not limited to feeding shoe counters, but may be used forfeeding any articles of sheet material, whether of regular or irregularcontour.

Counters for boots and shoes vary to a great extent, both in length andwidth and in contour. Therefore, it is necessary that the hopper whichcontains and guides a col umn of said counters should be capable ofvarious adjustments in order that one of such hoppers may be utilizedfor holding and guiding a variety of different sizes of counters.

In the drawings, 20 is a hopper adapted to receive a column of counters21, 22 being the uppermost counter of said column. Said hopper issupported upon a frame 23 and consists of a pair of vertically disposedside plates 24:, said plates being angle plates. These plates areslidably supported upon guide rods 25 fastened to ears 26 on the frame23. Said side plates are moved toward or away from each other upon theguide rods 25 by a pair of right and left screw threaded shafts 27 and28. Said screw-threaded shafts are rotatably mounted in suitablebearings 29 and 80, respectively, on the frame 23.

The shaft 27 is rotated by means of a suitable wrench or crank attachedto the squared end 31 thereof. Said shaft 27 has a sprocket gear 32 fastthereto which is connected by a sprocket chain 33 to another sprocketgear 36L fast to the lower screw-threaded shaft 28. Said upperscrew-threaded shaft 27 has screw-threaded engagement with bracketsextending rearwardly from the side plates 24. and the screw threadedshaft 28 has screw threaded engagement with brackets 36 extendingrearwardly from said side plates 21. Thus, by rotating the shaft 27 theshaft 28 will be rotated through the sprocket gears 32 and 3 1 and thesprocket chain and according to the direction of such rotation the sideplates 24 will be caused to move apart or to approach each other.

The side plates are each provided with a plurality of forwardlyextending arms 37 upon. which are supported a pair of verticallydisposed angle plates 88. Said angle plates are rendered adjustable onsaid arms by means of studs 39 which project through horizontal slots 40provided in said arms, and said angle plates are locked in adjustedposition by means of thumb-nuts 41 having screw-threaded engagement withsaid studs 39. Thus the angle plates are adjustable on the side platesat right angles to the direction in which the side plates are adjustabletoward each other, so that by adjusting the side plates in the mannerhereinbefore described the hopper mav be adjusted to feed counters ofdifferent lengths and by adjusting the angle plates 38 toward and awayfrom the frame 23 said hopper may be adapted to receive and feedcounters of different widths.

Another pair of verticallv disposed angle plates 38 are permanentlyfastened by suitable means, such as screws, to the arms 37. These angleplates maintain a fixed relation to the side plates 24. It will be seenby reference to Fig. 5 that when the counters are in position in thehopper the corners 42 project into the angle plates 38' and arepositioned thereby, while the curved edge. 4-3 bears a ainst the otherangle plates 38. By reference to F is. a it will be seen that thecounters may be placed in a reversed position from that in which theyare shown as occupying in Fig. 5 and in this case the coun tors arepositioned with their corners 42 projecting into the angle plates 38,while the curved edge 43 bears against the vertical plates 44 which arefastened to the frame 23 and the column of counters 21 rests upon atable 45. Said table is slidably mounted upon a guide 46 which isfastened to the frame 23 and is slotted at 47 longitudinally thereof toreceive two racks 48 and 49. The rack 48 is stationary and fixed to theguide 46. The rack 49 is slidable in the slot 47 longitudinally thereof.

The table has a top 50 upon which the counters rest and a downwardlyextending projection 51 which encircles the guide 46. Said table haspivoted thereto at 52 pawls 53 and 53 which engage simultaneously teeth54 of the rack 48 and teeth 55 of the rack 49, so that when the rack 49is moved upwardly as hereinbefore described, the pawls 53 and 53 will becarried with it, together with the table 45. In so doing the pawl 53remains in engagement with one of the teeth of the movable rack 49 whilethe pawl 53 slides over the stationary rack 48 and drops into the nexttooth above that on which it previously rested. A spring 56 is fastenedto the table 45 and has one end slotted longitudinally to formindependent extensions 56 which engage tail-pieces 57 on the pawls 53and 53 and hold them normally in engagement with the teeth of the tworacks 48 and 49, respectively.

In order to automatically disengage the pawls and 53' from the racks 48and 49 respectively and allow the table 45 to move downwardly, a lever58 is pivoted at 52 to the table 45 and is adapted to engage thetail-pieces 57 when moved in the proper direction so to do. When in itsnormal state said lever is out of engagement with the tail pieces andrests against a in 59 fast to said table.

lVhen the table 45 has arrived at its extreme upward position an arm 137on the lever 58 is adapted to engage a stop 138 on the frame of themachine. This will cause the lever 58 to rock and engage the tailpieces57 to disconnect the pawls 53 and 53 from the racks 48 and 49. At thesame time an arm 139 on the lever 58 will be moved into the positionindicated in dotted lines (Fig. 6) and will be held in that position bya catch 140 which is operated by the spring 56, so that the tooth 141 onsaid catch will be brought beneath the arm 139 when said arm is in itselevated position. As soon as the pawls and 53 are disconnected from theracks 48 and 49, the table 45 will descend to the lower end of thecolumn and will strike upon a bulfer 142 which is provided to take theshock of the falling table and when the table has fallen to the bottomof the hopper, as described, an arm 143 on the latch 140 will engage astationary stop 144 and thus said latch will be rocked upon its pivot todisengage the tooth 141 from the arm 139. Thus the pawls 53 and 53 willbe freed by the lever 58 and allowed to be moved by-the spring 56 intocontact with the teeth of the racks 48 and If it is desired to raise orlower the table 45 by hand, the operator will raise the arm 139 of thelever 58 to disconnect the pawls 53 and 53 from the racks 48 and 49 andmove the table to any position desired in the hopper.

A vertical reciprocatory motion is imparted to the slidable rack 49 byan arm 60 connected thereto by a link 61, said arm be ing fastened to arock-shaft 62 pivoted to rock in bearings 63 on the frame 23. A rockingmotion is imparted to the shaft 62 by an arm 64 fast to said rock-shaft62 and connected by a link 65 to a. slide 66 guided by a stud 67 fast tothe frame 23 and projecting through a slot 68 in said slide. A verticalreciprocatory motion is imparted to the slide 66 by a lever 69 pivotedto a stud 70 fast to the frame 23 and having a cam roll 71 journaledthereon. A rocking motion is imparted to the lever 69 by a cam 72 fastto the driving shaft 73. A spring 7 74 holds the cam roll 71 against thecam 72 except under certain conditions herein after described.

On the upper end of the slide 66 is a lateral projection 75 which isadapted to be engaged at certain times by a tripper lever 76 which ispivoted at 77 to the frame 23 and terminates at its lower end in a tooth78, the upper end thereof being provided with an inclined edge 79 andwith an oppositely inclined edge 80. At certain times in the operationof the machine the tooth 78 on the lever 76 is adapted to engage theprojection 75 and at other times it is adapted to engage one of thenotches 81, 82 in the free end of an arm 83, constituting a latch, saidarm being pivoted at 84 to the frame of the machine. A spring 85 drawsthe lower end of the lever 76 toward the projection 7 5. Another spring86 draws the latch 83 toward said projection 75.

The uppermost counter 22 in the column of counters 21 is carried fromthe hopper 20 and deposited upon a receptacle or table 87 by mechanismwhich will now be described. An arm 88 is fastened to a rockshaft 89which is journaled in bearings 90 in the frame of the machine and has agear 91 fastened thereto which meshes into a segmental gear lever 92pivoted to a stud 93 fast to the frame of the machine (see Fig. 2). Thelower end of the lever 92 has a cam roll 94 ournaled thereon which runsin a cam pathformed in a cam 96. The cam per 20 and then the set-screw111 In the outer end of the arm 88 is journaled a shaft 100'which isadapted to rock in bearings 101, 102 provided in the outer end of saidarm (see Fig, 7). Said shaft extends part way across and above thehopper 20 (see Figs. 2 and 4) and has fastened to the outer end thereofa carrier 103 (see Fig. 8), said carrier consisting of an arm 104 andafoot 105 pivoted at the lower end thereof on the fulcrum pins 100. Saidfoot is arranged to be adjusted at different angles relatively to thearm 104 by rocking the same upon the pins 106, said foot being held inadjusted position by an arm 107 on the foot 105 which is connected by alink 108 to an arm 109 fastened by a screw 110 to the outer end of theshaft 100. The arm 104 is adjustably fastened to the shaft 100 by meansof a set-screw 111. The foot 105 has a rubber pad 105 on its lower face.It will be seen that by thus forming the carrier in two parts, viz., thearm 104 and the foot 105 and further by means of the link 108 andadjustable arm 109, the foot 105 may be adjusted so as to contact withthe central portion of counters of different widths and also may beadjusted so as to contact throughout its entire face with said counters;or, in other words, in the embodiment of our invention disclosed in thepresent machine the under face of the foot 105 may be adjusted so thatit will always be horizontal, no matter what the width of counter may bewhich is contained within the hopper 20. For example, if it is desiredto move the 1 foot 105 from'the'position shown in Fig. 2

toward the left (Fig. 2) to locate the same centrally for a narrowercounter than that illustrated in said figure, the set-screw 111 will beloosened, the arm 104 will be swung toward the left, together with thefoot 105 carried thereby, the foot 105 will be placed with its underface in ahorizontal position so as to contact with the upper surface ofthe uppermost counter contained in the hopwill be tightened.-

The passage 99 in the arm 88 connects through a port 112 with a passage113 in the shaft 100 and said passage 113 is connected by a port 114with a passage 115 in the arm 104. The passage 115 is connected bypassages 116 in the pins 106 with passages 117 extending downwardlythrough the foot 105 and connecting with ports 118 provided in 65111116.ower: f e ofsaid foot (seeFi 8),

In the outer end of the bearing 90 is mounted a valve 119 whichisprovided with ports 120 and 121 adapted to register with ports 122 and123, respectively, in a sleeve 124. A pipe 126 leads to a suitableexhaust pump 136 and another pipe 125 leads to the atmosphere. The valve119 is rocked to bring the ports 120 and 121 into alinement alternatelywith the ports 122 and 123, respectively, and this rocking motion isimparted to said valve by an arm 127 fast to the valve 119 and connectedby a link 128 to a crank-pin 129 on the disk 130 which is fastened tothe shaft 73.

In the operation of the machine the carrier 103 is moved through anangle of 180 and the counter 22 is carried by said carrier from thehopper 20 and placed upon the table 87. During this movement it isdesired not to reverse the counter but to carry it over to the table 87and place it with the same side uppermost as when it was containedwithin the hopper 20. To accomplish this result a pinion 131 is fastenedto the bearing 90 and meshes into a segmental gear 132 pivoted to a stud133 fast to the arm 88. The segmental gear 132 also meshes into a pinion134 fast to the shaft 100, so that when the arm 88 is moved to carry thecounter from the hopper to the table the under face of the foot 105 willremain horizontal and the carrier 103 will maintain a substantiallyfixed position relatively to a vertical plane containing the medianaxial line thereof or the median axial line of the shaft 100 during therocking of the arm.

The general operation of the mechanism hereinbefore specificallydescribed is as follows: The counters are placed in the hopper 20resting upon the table 45. The side plates 24 are adjusted by turningthe screw-threaded shaft 27, which, through the sprockets 32 and 34 andsprocket chain 33, will rotate thescrew-threaded shaft 28 until thecorners 42 of the counters engage the angle plates 38 and said angleplates are also adjusted on the arms 37 until the counter fits with itsrounded edge against the plates 44, and with its corners 42 touching theinside of said angle plates. The shaft 73 is then rotated by suitablemeans such as a pulley (not shown in the drawings) in the direction ofthe arrow a (Fig. 2).

Assuming the parts to be in the relative positions illustrated in Fig.2, the arm 88, together with the parts supported thereon, will be rockeda half rotation successively into the position shown in dotted lines(Fig. 3) and then into the position shown in full lines therein. Duringthis movement the valve 119 is in position to cause a vacuum in thepassages 97, 99, 113, 115, 116 and 117, and ports 118, thus causing thecounter 22 .to-be heldfirmly against the under face of wthe.. foot;105.wh.11e said counteris being carried from the hopper20 to the table87. As soon as it is placed upon the table 87 the valve opens to allowair to enter through the pipe 125 and into said passages, so that thecounter 22 will be released from suction and allowed to remain upon thesurface of the table 87, when the arm 88 and carrier 103 return from theposition illustrated in full lines (Fig. 3) to that illustrated in fulllines (Fig. 2) ready to feed another counter from the hopper to thetable.

The column of counters 21 is fed upwardly step by step by the table 45in the following manner: The cam 72 causes the lever 69 to rock and movethe slide upwardly which moves the link 65 upwardly, thus causing therock-shaft 62 to be rocked through the arms 64 and 60 and thus impartingan upward movement to the movable rack 49 which causes the pawls 53 and53 to be moved upwardly, together with the table 45, and when said pawlshave been moved upwardly the extent of a tooth the pawl 53 will dropinto said tooth on the stationary rack 48. During the next rotation ofthe machine the movable rack 49 will repeat this operation unless theupper counter 22 stands at a height above the point to which the lowerface of the foot 105 descends when the parts are in the positionillustrated in Fig. 2, in which case the foot is not able to descend toits proper position and the tripper mechanism will be operated toprevent the column of counters from being fed upwardly as follows:

By reference to Figs. 11, 13, 14 and 16, it will be seen that when theparts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 11 the slide 66 hasjust'been moved upwardly to its full extent by the cam 72 and lever 69.At this point the tripper lever 76 stands with its tooth 78 in the outernotch 81 ofthe latch 83. As the cam 72 continues its rotary movement thespring 74 and the weight of the slide 66 and attached parts will causesaid slide to descend and will cause the roll 71 to move toward the left(Fig. 11) in accordance with the movement of the cam 72 and the shapethereof until the parts arrive at the relative positions illustrated inFig. 13 in which it will be seen that the cam roll 71 is on the shortestthrow of the cam 72, the slide 66 has descended until the projection 75,engaging the latch arm 83, moves said latch arm downwardly, releasingthe tooth 78 of the tripper lever 76 and allowing said tooth to contactwith the right hand edge (Fig. 13) of the projection 75. When the cam 72is further rotated to the position illustrated in Fig. 14 the lever 69will have been rocked to raise the slide 66 to the position illustratedin Fig. 14 and at this time the tripper lever 76 will assume theposition illustrated in Fig. 14, with the tooth 78 thereon underneaththe projection upon the slide 66 and in the notch 82 of the latch 83.

Assuming now that the uppermost counter is at a higher level than isdesired or at a higher level than the lowermost position of the underface of the foot 105 when said foot is in the position illustrated inFig. 2, then the slide 66 and the lever 69 will be held in the positionsillustrated in Fig. 14.

and as the cam 72 continues its rotary nioticn it will leave the slide66 suspended upon the tooth 78 of the tripper lever 76 and the partswill thus be in the positions illustrated in Fig. 15. The carrier 103will remove the uppermost counter from the column of counters and carryit over to the table and at the next feed of the counter the arm 88 willdescend until a pin 135 thereon engages the inclined surface 79 upon theupper end of the tripper lever 76. This will rock the tripper lever anddisengage the tooth 78 from the projection 75, so that the slide 66 andlever 69 can move downwardly in position for the cam 72 to rock saidlever 69 and feed the column of counters by the slide 66 and connectingmechanism hereinbefore described the height of approximately one toothon the racks 48 and 49. This intermittent feeding movement will then continue until the height of the top of the column of counters is againabove the normal. height of said counters, whereupon the operationhereinbefore described, whereby the column of counters is prevented frombeing fed, will be repeated.

When the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 11 the pin 135will pass downwardly and along the inclined surface of the tripper lever76 without rocking said lover and said pin will not engage the in- 1clined surface 79, and the tripper lever 76 will be kept out ofengagement with the projection 75 on the slide 66 by the latch lever 83.Thus it will be seen that the tripper lever 76, together with the pin135 on the arm 88, constitutes a means for automatically causing thecolumn counter feeding mechanism to be thrown out of operation when theheight of the top of the column is above the normal height, so that theposition of the article at the upper end of the column of articles inthe hopper is adapted to throw out of operation the column feedingmechanism.

When all of the counters have been fed 1 142, the latch 140 beingsimultaneously disengaged from the arm 139 by striking the I stop 144.The hopper is then filled with counters and the operation of feeding thesame upwardly by a series of steps hereinbefore described is repeated.

Concisely stated, it will. be seen that when the uppermost counter inthe column of counters is at too great a height or above the normalheight of said counter, then the pin 135 does not descend to asufficient extent to engage the tripper lever 76, as seen in Fig. 15,and, therefore, the cam lever 69 will not be operated and the column ofcounters will remain stationary, but when the level of the top of theuppermost counter in said column is at the normal level, the arm 88 willdescend until the pin 135 en gages the inclined surface 79 and thetripper lever 76 will then be operated to release the slide 66 and allowit to descend and bring the cam roll on the lever 69 into position to beoperated by the cam 72, and during this descent of the slide 66 it willbe understood that the latch lever 83 is moved downwardly from theposition illustrated in Fig. 11 to that illustrated in Fig. 13 and uponthe next movement upward of the slide 66 the tooth 78 of the tripperlever will drop into the notch 82 on the latch lever 83 in the posltionillustrated in Fig. 14.

In Figs. 16 and 17 a modified form of carrier is illustrated in which145 1s an arm corresponding to the arm 104 Fig. 8. This arm is fastenedto the shaft 100 by a set screw 146. At its lower end said arm 145 isshaped to form a ball 147 and upon this ball is pivotally mounted a foot148 made 111 two parts joined together by screws 149. The passage 113opens into a passage 150 in the arm 145 and said passage 150 isconnected by passages 151 to ports 152 provided in the lower face of thefoot 148. A spring 153 encircles the arm 145 and bears, at its lower endagainst the foot 148, thus preventing said foot from becomingaccidentally displaced upon the lower end of said arm. The constructiondescribed enables the foot 148 to assume different positions so that itslower face will always contact throughout its entire extent with theupper face of the counter which it is desired to have picked up by saidfoot. The upper face of said counter is not always exactly horizontaland if said upper face is slightly inclined the lower face of the foot148 will tip to contact with it by reason of the foot 148 tipping on theball shaped end 147 of the arm 145.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire by LettersPatent to secure is:

1. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a supportfor said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a pivotfor said rocker arm located between said support and said receptacle, a

carrier pivotally mounted on the free end of said rocker arm and adaptedto hold said article, mechanism adapted to rock said rocker arm, astationary pinion concentric with said rocker arm pivot, a pinion fastto 2. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a supportfor said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a shaftto which said rocker arm is fastened, mechanism adapted to rock saidshaft, a secondshaft rotatably mounted in the free end of said rockerarm, a carrier fast to said second shaft, means adapted to maintain saidcarrier in a substantially fixed position relatively to a vertical planecontaining the median axial line thereof during the rocking of saidrocker arm, said shafts and arm being provided with passages leading toports provided in one face of said carrier and means adapted toalternately exhaust air from, and supply air to, said passages, wherebysaid. article may be carried from said support to said receptacle.

3. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a supportfor said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a shaftto which said rocker arm is fastened, mechanism adapted to rock saidshaft, a second shaft rotatably mounted in the free end of said rockerarm, a carrier, said carrier comprising an arm adjustably fastened tosaid second shaft, a foot pivoted to said arm, an arm adjustablyfastened to said second shaft and a link connecting said foot andlast-named arm, whereby said foot can be set at different positionsrelatively to a vertical plane containing the median axial line of saidsecond shaft.

4. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a tableslidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack,pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said rackssimultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion tosaid movable rack whereby said table may be moved longitudinally of saidhopper in one direction and a lever pivoted to said table and adapted toengage said pawls whereby the same may be dlS- engaged from said racksand said table left free to be moved longitudinally of said hopper ineither direction.

5. A machine for feeding articles having, in combination, a hopperadapted to hold a column of said articles, mechanism adapted to feedsaid column of articles intermittently longitudinally thereof in saidhopper in one direction, means adapted to hold said column of articlesagainst movement in the opposite direction, mechanism adapted to re movesaid articles one by one from one end of said column, said feedingmechanism including a slide with a projection thereon, a tripper leveradapted to engage said projection and hold said slide and the feedingmechanism of which it forms a part out of operation, said tripper leveradapted to be operated by said removing mechanism to disengage saidprojection and allow said feeding mechanism to operate and a latchadapted to hold said tripper lever out of engagement with saidprojection.

6. A machine for feeding articles having, in combination, a hopperadapted to hold a column of said articles, mechanism adapted to feedsaid column of articles intermittently longitudinally thereof in saidhopper in one direction, means adapted to hold said column of articlesagainst movement in the opposite direction, mechanism adapted to removesaid articles one by one from one end of said column, said feedingmechanism including a slide with a projection thereon, a tripper leveradapted to engage said projection and hold said slide and the feedingmechanism of which it forms a part out of operation, said tripper leveradapted to be operated by said removing mechanism to disengage saidprojection and allow said feeding mechanism to operate and a latchadapted to hold said tripperlever out of engagement with saidprojection, said latch constructed and arranged to be subsequentlyengaged by said projection to release said tripper from said latch andallow it to again engage said projection on said slide.

7 A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles comprising apair of vertically disposed slidable side plates, means forsimultaneously moving said plates toward each other, vertically disposedangle plates on each of said side plates adjustable in a directionparallel to each other on their respective side plates and at rightangles to the direction in which said side plates are adapted to beadjusted and a table slidable longitudinally of said plates within saidhopper.

8. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a tableslidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack,pawls pivoted to said table and adapt ed to engage both of said rackssimultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion tosaid movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally ofsaid hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adaptedto engage said pawls and means adapted to be engaged by said leverduring the upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may bedisengaged from said racks and said table allowed to move downwardly.

9. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a tableslidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack,pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said rackssimultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion tosaid movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally ofsaid hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adaptedto engage said pawls, means adapted to be engaged by said lever duringthe upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be dis engagedfrom said racks and a catch adapted to engage said lever and hold thesame in position with said pawls out of engagement with said racks,whereby said table may be allowed to move downwardly.

10. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a tableslidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack,pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said rackssimultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion tosaid movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally ofsaid hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adaptedto engage said pawls, means adapted to be engaged by said lever duringthe upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be disengagedfrom said racks, a catch adapted to engage said lever and hold the samein position with said pawls out of engagement with said racks, wherebysaid table may be allowed to move downwardly, and means adapted todisengage said catch from said lever at the end of the downward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be allowed to engage saidracks.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALBERT M. HOYT. CARL A. MATSON.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDINo, SYDNEY E. TAFT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

